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When Amy Came To Dingle

by on 17. Mar, 2012 in Documentaries, Film, TV

Saw a wonderful documentary on the flight back to the UK the other week called ‘When Amy Came To Dingle’, which captures her appearance in this enchanting Irish outpost. Filmed in 2006 as part of RTÉ TV’s ‘Other Voices’ series, the programme combined an intimate live performance, before an audience of just 70 people at St. James Church, with a fascinating interview that highlights the singers’ influences, including Mahalia Jackson, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan, Carleen Anderson, Soweto Kinch and The Shangri-la’s.

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Slowing Down Time

by on 13. Mar, 2012 in Books, DJ Appearances, Mixes, Radio, Read

I started writing this before I headed off on my travels to Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and back to Australia again (concluded on my return home, having made notes along the way). I’ve been very preoccupied with time, or, to be more precise, the lack of it – this is where my head was at:

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Living To Music – Fleetwood Mac ‘Rumours’

by on 27. Feb, 2012 in CD’s / Digital, General, Hear, Living To Music, The Seventies

I originally became aware of Fleetwood Mac via their chart topping single 'Albatros' (1969), an almost ambient instrumental opus that had your senses surfing on an ethereal wave of sound - band founder Peter Green's hauntingly understated guitar a joy to behold.

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Passing It On

by on 22. Feb, 2012 in Books, CD’s / Digital, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Read, The Fifties, The Forties, The Sixties, The Thirties

Before I headed off on tour I pulled out my recently acquired copy of Bob Dylan's autobiography 'Chronicles: Volume One' (2004), which I'd specifically earmarked for this trip. However, on my connecting flight from Manchester to London I realised that rather than packing it in my hand baggage, as intended, I must have put in my suitcase, so, with my luggage checked through to Hong Kong, when I arrived at Heathrow I went into WH Smith to see if I could find something else to read on the journey. I was really looking forward to the Dylan book, so, when I saw it on the shelf I decided to get another copy, and pass the spare one on somewhere along the way.

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Whitney Houston

by on 12. Feb, 2012 in Black Culture, Records, RIP, The Eighties, The Nineties

There seems to have been a cluster of deaths since the New Year, the latest being Whitney Houston, one of the most successful female singers of all-time, who enjoyed phenomenal success during the second half of the 80’s and on through the 90’s.

I was fortunate to hear her sing before she was famous. In 1984 I was at The Hippodrome in London for the DMC DJ Convention. One of the acts, brought over by her record company, Arista, was a young singer with a fascinating vocal pedigree - her mother was Cissy Houston, and Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick were her cousins, whilst her godmother was Aretha Franklin. She’d never released any records at this point, and this appearance, according to DMC founder Tony Prince, was a ‘world-first’.

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The Haçienda DJ Booth

by on 10. Feb, 2012 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Manchester, The Eighties

Not the iconic one up on the balcony, but the initial side of stage location. This bit of history comes courtesy of Hewan Clarke, the original Haçienda DJ, who had to put up with what was one of the worst thought out DJ booths I’d ever come across, located in a separate room down some stairs to the side of the stage, with a narrow slit window enabling you to view little more than the feet of those outside in the club.

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Don Cornelius

by on 01. Feb, 2012 in Black Culture, Hear, Records, RIP, The Eighties, The Seventies, TV, Video

As host of US TV’s quintessential black / dance music show, Soul Train, Don Cornelius, who died today, aged 75, was an iconic black music figure. Everyone who was anyone in the Soul and Funk world appeared on the programme during its 70’s heyday. Film director Spike Lee would aptly describe it as an “urban music time capsule."

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Living To Music – Paul Simon ‘Graceland’

by on 31. Jan, 2012 in CD’s / Digital, Documentaries, Hear, Living To Music, Records, The Eighties, Video

Since scaling the dizzy heights between 1965-1970, with partner in harmony Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon’s solo career, despite a strong start, had gradually stalled from the mid-70’s onward and, by the 80’s he was pretty much regarded as a name from the past who, like other names from the past, continued to release LP’s that no longer caught the public’s interest. His album prior to ‘Graceland’, 1983’s ‘Hearts And Bones’, was considered a commercial flop (although it would receive retrospective critical acclaim) and, with the weight of failure on his shoulders, it looked like his best work was well behind him.

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Electrofunkroots Revitalized

by on 27. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Manchester, Mixes, The Eighties, The Seventies

I’m absolutely delighted to be finally able to announce that the revitalized Electrofunkroots website is now live and kicking, having undergone a complete overhaul, with loads of new content added. Originally launched back in August 2003, Electrofunkroots is absolutely central to my work, providing the foundation from which my DJ career was rejuvenated, and the catalyst for all my subsequent documentation of UK dance culture, and popular culture in general (without Electrofunkroots it’s doubtful that I’d have set up this blog, 7 years later down the line).

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DJ Streets Ahead

by on 26. Jan, 2012 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Misc, The Eighties, The Nineties, Video

Sad to hear about the untimely passing of DJ Streets Ahead (Shem McCauley) one of the UK’s pioneering scratch & cut exponents, who’d re-invent himself in the mid-90’s as the successful dance music producer, Slacker. More recently he moved to Bangkok, Thailand, which is where he died (cause of death is still unconfirmed).

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